Danger-signal.



N0. 833,935. PATENTED OCT. 23, 1906.

.B. S. MILLER. L

I DANGER SIGNAL. v

APPLIOTION FILED MAY 21. 1906.

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10.833,935.' Y PATENTBD 06123, 1906;

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DANGER SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED HAY.2I.190B.

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UNITED srxrns PATENT OFFICE; y

' 4BURNS sMiLLER, or EvERErr, WASHINGTON.

DANGER-SIGNAL.

Speciiication of Letters Patent.

Appiieation filed May 21, 1906.y serial ria-318,000.

T0 all zlzh'cTn/-it may concern:

Be. it knownA that I, BURNS S. MILLER, a citizen/of the United States,residing at No. 2819 Chestnut street, Everett, in the'county ofSnohomish and State of Washington, have invented a new and usefulDanger-Signal, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionv relates -to signal apparatus; and its obj ect is toprovide apparatus of this character adapted to automatically indicate.

the presence yof a land or snow Aslide upon a railway-track, -andthereby prevent disastrous wrecks, suchas often occur from obstructionsof this nature..

Another object is to provide means whereby. .the"engineer ofi a ytrainapproaching the slide from yeither direction will be warned of thedanger, as will also the station agent nearest theslide. n V Withtheabove yand other objects in view the invention consists of aguard-fenceadapte'dto lbe .placed at a point where a snow or landslide is likely tooccur, and at-a consider'- able distance vfrom leach end of this fenceis located a signal apparatus which is so connectedto thefencethatshould all ora portion yof said fence be thrown over by a slide asemaphore and'lamp will be actuated to Aindicate to the engineerfof anapproaching train that danger is ahead.`- Means are also employed *forcausing the yactuationof lthe signals at both sides ofthe slide, whetheror not all 'of the guard-fence is thrown down.

Theinvention'also consists of certain other novel features ofconstruction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more yfully described, and kpointed out fin the claims.

anyd'esired proportions and is adapted to beerected at one'sideof thetrack at a point ywhere a land or snow slide is liable :to 'occur'. Twocables 2 and 3extend along the face'f lthe fence adjoining the track andare mov-- 5 5 f ably connected to the fence by large staples :4 or vinanyfother desired Imannerfsaid staples permitting longitudinal movementof fthe cables. Poles are arrangedbeside the track..

land beyond :the ends of the fence 2foranyde- 6o 'sired distance andarepreferably provided y. A

with pulleys 6 vin Atheir upper ends, which 'serve ito carry the-cables.At each endof the appa-` `ratus is .provided signalymechanisrn which'isi adapted to be actuated Iby l'the cables should 65 `the fence fall,so as to indicate the presence of gdanger. The signal Imechanism at lthetwo ends is the same, and for that reason'detailed .description of onewill apply to both.

farm 7 extends laterally from the posts sup.- 7c

porting the signal mechanism and is suitably held, as by means of abrace 8. yA `pivot-pin 9 extends from `the 'arm 7, and ful'cr'umedthereon Ais -a `lever .10, `having ya Weight 11 suspended from one`e"I'1d,.w-hile its other `end, is V7-5 provided with a `dependinglocking-finger '12. An arm 13 extends from the supporting-post 14 `ofthe mechanism and ,toward the track, and asp'indle 1.5 is rotatablymounted inthe outer end of ,this arm and carries a'd'isk 16'a`t 8o litsupper end, on which is mounted a signalilamp 17, which is adapted, wheninits normal position., tojshow a green light, but` which whenfshiftedby the mechanism will show 'a red or danger light. A-slot 18 `is formed85 in the disk 16 and is normally engaged by the finger 12, therebyholding under tension la spring 19., which is connected to the arm 13and to a pin 20, extending `-downward from 'the disk 16. to 'thespindle15 and is locked normally, in position (shown in Fig'. 1) by thelocking-fingerl2.` A.

A loop 2'2 extends from the .post 14, and

arranged Within it is fa-curved rod 23, which 95 is loosely coiledyabout 'a pin 24, extending from lever 10. This rod has a Weight 25 vatits free end which serves to counterbalance the Weight 11, so that under4ordinary 'conditions the finger 12 is held in position within roo theslot 18. Another post 26 is arranged close to the post 14 and has apivot+bolt 27 extending therefrom yand 'on whichxa lever 28 is fulcrumeds o as to e swing in a horizontal i ratented'oet. as, 1906. l*

A semaphore-'arm v21l is connected 9o plane. The ends of this lever areconnected by short cables 29 and 30 with the coil of the rod 23. Thecable 2, hereinbefore referred to, extends through the upper end of post14 and is secured to lever 10, close to pin 24, whereas the cable 3extends through the post 14 and is connected to one end of lever 28.Posts 31 are lcated at the other side of the track between the twosignal mechanisms and carry a longitudinally-movable cable 32, the endsof which extend loosely through one end of the levers 28 and haveweights 33, which serve to hold the cable 32 taut under all conditions.

`As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, the actuation ofthe signalmechanism may be caused to sound an alarm. In said figure a bell hasbeen indicated at 34, the same being connected bya wire 35 with abattery 36, which in turn is electrically connected by a wire 37 with aswitch 38, connected to the lever 10 by means of a rod 39. With thisconstruction the actuation of lever 10'will cause the switch to moveagainst a contact 40, electrically connected to the bell 34 by a wire41. This bell may be located at the nearest station on the road or canbe disposed at any other desired point where it is deemed advisable toinform of the presence of an obstruction upon the track. In the event ofthe fence 1 being overthrown by a slide at least one of the wires 2 and3 will be pulled downward by the fence and cause a correspondinglongitudinal movement of said cables. This movement of cable 2 willcause the two levers 10 to be simultaneously swung upward, so as .tolift the fingers 12 out of engagement with disks 16. l The springs 19will therefore immediately contract and partly rotate the disks, so asto bring the red light into position to warn the engineer of anapproaching train and also to swing the semaphore-arm toward the track.If only the cable 3 should be actuated by the falling of the fence, the

two levers 28 would be swung upon their pivots 27 so as to cause theircables 30 to pullY the loose coils of the rods 23 off of the pins 24.rlhe weight- 11 is thus relieved of its counterbalance and, assisted bythe upward pull of rods 23 through loops 22, will swing the levers 10upward, so as to unlock the disks. Should only one end of the fencecollapse, the cable 3 will cause the actuation of the signal mechanismat one end in the manner described and the swinging of theactuatinglever 28 and will cause the longitudinal movement of cable 32,which will in turn actuate the lever 28 at the other end of theapparatus, so as to cause the withdrawal of the coil from pin 24 and theactuation of' the signal mechanism. The weights 33 at the ends of cable32 are sufficiently heavy to prevent longitudinal movement of said cablewhile the lever 28 is being actuated thereby to slide the coil from pin24.

The preferred form of the invention lias been set-forth in tlieforegoing description, but l do not limit myself thereto, as l am awarethat modifications maybe in ade therein without departing from thespirit or sacrificing the advantages thereof, and l. therefore reservethe right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of theclaims.

What is claimed is- 1. An automatic signal apparatus comprising aguard-fence, a normally locked springcontrolled signal device, meansoperated by the collapse of the fence for unlocking the device to causeits actuation, an alarm, and means operated by the actuation of thesignal device for causing the sounding of said alarm'.

2. An automatic signal apparatus comprising a weighted lever, acounterbalancc tlicrcfor detacliably connected to the lever, aspring-controlled signal device, carried by 'the lever for locking thesignal device, a guard-fence, and means operated'by tlie collapse of thefence for disconnecting the counterbalaiice to cause the actuation ofthe lever.

' 3. An automatic signal apparatus comprising a weighted lever, acounteibalancc,mov-

`ably connected thereto, a signal device,`

means carried byA the lever for locking said device against movement, anunlocking-lever, the connection between said lever and thecounterbalance, a guard-fence, and a Ilexible connection between saidfence and the uiilocking-lever adapted, upon the collapse of the fence,to actuate the unlocking-lever and relieve the iirst-mentioned lever ofits counterbalance.

4. An automatic signal ap iaiatus comprising a guard-fence, a rotata lesignal device at each end of said fence, a weighted lockinglever foreach signal device, a counterlmlancc inovably connected to eachlocking-lever, an unlocking-lever connected to eacli counterbalance,flexible connections between tlie fence and' the locking and unlockinglevers, and a flexible connection between tlie unlocking-levers 5. Anautomatic signal ap )aratus comprising a guard-fence, a movab e signaldevice, means operated by the collapse of tlie fence for actuating saidsignal device, a second signal device, and means for actuating saidsecond device from the first-mentioned signal device.

6. An automatic signal apparatus comprising a guard-fence, a movablesignal device, means operated by the collapse of the felice foractuating said signal device, a second. similar device, and means foractuating said second device from the first-mentioned signal device.

ICO

v 833,935.- y y i;

. 7 v. Anautomatic signal apparatus'compris- In testimony that I claimthe foregoing 'as A, ing ak guard-fence,i1amovable signal device, my ownI have hereto ahxed my signature f/ `mea`ns roperatedjby'the collapse ofthe fence in the presence of two Witnesses. for actnatingfsaidfdevice,`an alarm, vand c y BURNSS. MILLER. I 5` lmeans operated by theactuation of the sig- Witnesses: 'l y nal device forcausingtheoperationjof said Jos. COLEMAN, alarm. i J Y1 y T. A. DOHERTY. v

